North Mason Teen Charged With Assault in Incident That Sent Man to Hospital

A 16-year-old North Mason teen has been charged with first-degree assault after a beating that sent another teen to a Seattle hospital with a brain injury.

The 16-year-old, who is being held in the Mason County jail on $150,000 bail, pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault charges last week, said his foster mother, Phyllis Bishop.

According to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office, the 16-year-old is accused of repeatedly hitting an 18-year-old man in the back of the head with a “large piece of wood” during a gathering at an NE Sail Loft Court home on Oct. 2. Details of the incident were not released.

The 18-year-old was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with a crushed skull. Part of his skull had to be removed to relieve swelling and bleeding in his brain, sheriff’s detectives said. He has since been released from the hospital, according to a Harborview spokeswoman.

Bishop said the 16-year-old has not been violent since he moved into her family’s Belfair-area home in April 2008. He is a sophomore at North Mason High School.

“He hasn’t given us any trouble,” she said, calling him a son more than a foster son.

The 16-year-old’s next court hearing on the charges is Oct. 26, Bishop said.